Functional dissection of conserved RNAi pathways in antiviral immunity of several hemipteran insects.

DCR2 is essential for development and fecundity in the small brown planthopper Laodelphax striatellus, yet its depletion does not detectably alter viral accumulation or virus-derived siRNAs.

• Why it matters: Non-model hemipteran insects’ RNAi antiviral roles are poorly defined, leaving uncertainty about which conserved small silencing pathways actually mediate antiviral immunity.
• What they did: The study screened core RNAi genes in L. striatellus, then tested DCR2 knockdown and CRISPR/Cas9 knockout, including RNAi-of-RNAi reporter silencing and viral accumulation readouts.
• The result: DCR2 knockdown showed no detectable change in viral accumulation or virus-derived siRNA abundance in L. striatellus and three other hemipterans, while DCR2 knockout caused embryonic lethality and heterozygotes had prolonged development.

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